Watch-stand



H. C. KARR.

WATCH STAND.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 1921.

Patented July 12, 1921.

UNETED STATES rarest caries.

HENRY C, KARE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IEIFTI-I TO EMIL BbNNELYCKE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

- WATCH-STAND.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it ..known that I, HENRY C. KARE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Watch-Stands, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to watch stands; and its main object, briefly stated, is the production of an improved article or device of the character indicated which may be constructed at a minimum cost and without requiring the use of complicated machinery; such article serving to effectively support a watch in substantially upright position so that the time may be read from its dial at a glance, and without danger of the watch slipping out of the holder or of'the latter itself tipping over in any direction.

The invention also resides in the provision of a holder as above described which is applicable to, and capable of use with, watches of widely different styles and sizes and which is so constructed that the watch may be easily and quickly engaged and disengaged with and from the holder and, when in place therein, will be held in position by the holder.

Other and further improved and advantageous features will be set forth in the following description; but it will be understood that-the precise disclosure given imposes no limitation upon the invention, since the latter is manifestly susceptible of modification and change within its scope as hereinafter claimed.

According to the invention, the 'holder comprises a strip or' blank of substantially symmetrical shape, bent upon itself to form an'inverted yoke, the legs of which are extended or enlarged at their freeends to form a supporting surface or base of relatively large'area; and these enlarged-or extendedportions or feetare spread apart to increase" the stability of the holder. The portion which connects or bridges the upper end of the legs is constructed to permit the engagement of the watch stem therewith, and the lowerportion of the-watch projects into a pair of pockets produced by the peculiar formation of the feet, so that the watchis maintained at all times in proper position in the holder, and is held against "accidental displacement or slippage. The advantage of this is" that under ordinary conditions the Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 12, 1921,

Application filed February 18, 1921. Serial No. 446,067.

watch is disposed with its dial in reading I position; while if the holder should be: tipped over, the watch will be prevented kept from striking against the surface of the support whereon the holder rests.

More particularly, the aforesaid bridge portion which straddles the watch stem projects forwardly of the holder and, hence, virtually overhangs the pockets above re ferred to; andthe distance between the bridge and the bottoms of the pockets may be, and preferably is, such that a slight gripping pressure is thereby eXerted upon the top and bottom of the watch consequent upon its lntroduction into the holder, thus facilitating its retention in the holder.

The projecting top portion or .from falling out, and the crystal will be which tends to'further increase the stability of its position.

In the accompanying draw1ngs;

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing'the preferred form of the invention and its mode of use in connection with a watch, the latter belng represented in dottedlines.

Fig.2 is a front view of Figf-l, the dotted lines indicating, in 'an exaggerated manner, the positions assumed :by the legs of the holder during the insertion or removal of the watch.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, on a slightly reduced scale, showing the holder tipped over and illustrating the position assumed at that time by the watch with relation to the supporting surface on which the holder rests. I

Fig. 4- is a plan view of the blank from which the holder illustrated in Fig. l is constructed.

Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, a side eles vation and a front elevation of a modified" form of holder. I

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen legs lof which converge toward'each other and are connected at their upper ends by a bridge-piece 2Z The legs of the yokev are formed by the intermediate portions or members 1 of the blank represented in Fig. 4 andare disposed substantially in alinement,

while the bridge, is similarly formed by the" central loop-shaped portion 2 of the blank which connects the confronting inner ends of the portions 1. The base of the stand or holder is formed by the enlarged lower ends 3 of the legs, which endsextend both forwardly and rearwardly from the legs and constitute elongated supporting feet.

The bridge 2 mentioned above extends horizontally in a forward direction and has the appearance of a loop or U, the bight of which is at the front thereof. This bridge is designed to engage the top part of the body 4 of the'watch 5 and to straddle the stem 6 of the watch; and it is to be observed that'by reason of the above described construction and arrangement of the bridge, its bight portion extends across the front 'surface of the stem. The purpose and advantage of this particular arrangement will be explained hereinafter.

As previously stated, the feet 8 extend both fore and aft of the legs 1. The front portions of the feet are utilized to support the lower portion of the watch and, con- .jointly with the bridge 2, to maintain the watch'in proper upright reading position in the holder. To this end, the aforesaid front portions of the feet are constructed to provide .or produce pockets, indicated at 7 wherein the lower ortion of the watch is received; and the dlstance between the bottoms of'these pockets and the bridge 2 may be, and preferably is, slightly less than the diameter of the watch body,so that when the watch is in place in the holder, there will be i a slight gripping action exerted upon it, the

extent of such action depending of course upon the particular distance in question and the diameter of the particular watch in use. In the construction represented in Fig. 1, the pockets are located immediately at the foot ofthe legs 1, and the rear edges of the pockets are, in fact, constituted byjcontinuations of the front edges of said legs. The pockets are curved'or concave and are of suflicient.

width to enable the bottom of the watch body to conformably fit therein. Conse quently, there will be an'appreciable space between the front edges of the pockets and the front ends of the feet 3. Immediately in advance of the pockets, the feet are slightly elevated, as indicated at 8, the rear edges of'these elevated portions or projec tions 8 merging into the front edges of the pockets. The horizontal projection ofthe vbridge 2-that is, the extent to which it pro jects forwardly beyond the legs lhis at least 7 as great as the width ofthepockets 7 The feetB are caused to incline slightly inward or toward each other, due to the converging-arrangement of the yoke legs 1 and a the front edges tram projections or lugs'8 are inclined upward andrea ward, as indicated in Fig. 1. Because of the arrangement I just described, it will beapparent that when the stem of the watch has been inserted in i the, openc'entral space or slot 9 produced by the U-shaped formation of the bridge 2, and the body 4. of the watch is moved rearwardly toward the legs, to. effect the reception of its lower portion in the pockets 7 the movement of the watch along the inclined edges ofthe projections 8 which constitute cams will tend,

to spread the legs away from each other;

and there may also be a tendency to flex the bridge 2 in an upward direction.

This

flexion or spreading of the legs is indicated diagrammatically and to a greatly exagger ated extent bythe dotted line showing in As soon as the watch passes over the tops of the projections 8, it will be free to snap into the pockets, and at the same time the legs 1 will move inwardly toward their original position indicated infull lines in Fi 2. the watch'will be maintained in proper reading position and will beheld against acci When so positioned in the holder,

dental displacement or slippage in any direction. This is. due in generalto the threepoint contact or engagement of the holder with the watch, the bQ yof which contacts at its bottom with the walls of the ockets 7 and at its top with the bridge 2,'t e latter also straddlingthe watch stem and thus engaging the stemat opposite sides.

The fore-and-aft extension of ;the. feet8 relative to the holder legs hasithe effect of providing a supporting base'of relativelylarge area, thus stabilizing the holder. .In case the hold'er should he tilted'over accidentally, however, it willrest on the surface of the table, desk or otherjsupport at the front ends ofthe feet '13 and the bridge 2, as indicated in Fig. 3. But it will be observed that the watch, even when 'in such such surface and be ng cracked or broken position, will be held out of contact with I the supporting surface, so thatthere is no danger of the watch crystal. striking against;

thereby; nor is there any danger of the watch falling out of the holder, because of its retention at one end by the pockets 7 and at the other end by the looped bridge 2.

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the holder is constructed of a single piece of spring wire of suitable gage and resiliency. The wire is bent into the same general shape as the holder of sheet material represented in Fig. 1, and the corresponding parts of the wire holder are therefore indicated by the same reference numerals with the addition of the prime mark. Further description of the wire holder is therefore considered unnecessary.

I claim as my invention l. A watch stand, comprising an upwardly-extending body portion having a stem-engaging part adjacent its upper end and a self-sustaining base at its lower end, said base embodying a pair of spaced spring supports for engagement with the body of a watch; said supports having pockets to receive the lower portion of the watch and adapted to be forced laterally away from each other incidental to the engagement of the watch in said pockets.

2. A watch stand, comprising a body hav ing spaced legs disposed at .opposite sides of its vertical axis, said body being provided at its upper end with a part adapted to engage the upper part of a watch, and at its lower end with self-sustaining supportin feet adapted to engage the lower part of the watch and to stand upon a flat surface, the part on the upper end of said body having a stem-receiving slot which opens rearwardly so that the closed end of the slot will be disposed adjacent the front surface of the stem when a watch is inserted in the stand.

3. A watch stand, comprising a yoke, the legs of which are adapted to contact at their front edges with the back of a watch and are provided at their lower ends with selfsustaining supporting feet adapted to stand upon a fiat surface; the bridge portion of the yoke adapted to engage the top part of the watch and having a slot to receive the watch stem and which is closed at its front end, so that said end will be disposed adjacent the front surface of the stem when a watch is inserted in the stand.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a blank for a yokeshaped watch stand com prising a strip of resilient sheet material embodying a pair of intermediate portions disposed substantially in alinement with each other and adapted to form the legs of the yoke, a U-shaped central portion connecting the adjacent inner ends of the intermediate portions and forming the bridge of the yoke, and enlargements at the outer ends of the intermediate portions to form supporting feet for the yoke legs.

5. A watch stand, comprising an upwardly-extending body portion having a stem-engaging part adjacent its upper end and a pair of spaced spring supports adjacent its lower end engageable with the body of a watch; said supports adapted to be forced laterally away from each other by the act of effecting such engagement and having cam portions for engagement with the watch to produce said lateral movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HENRY C. KARE. 

